Using Consistently Low Performance to Identify Low-Quality Physician Groups

Key Points Question Can quality measures identify low-quality physician groups when performance is correlated across multiple measures or multiple years? Findings In this cross-sectional study of a commercially insured population with diabetes or cardiovascular disease, we found weak consistency of low performance scores across multiple measures but moderate to strong consistency of scores over multiple years. One percent or fewer of physician groups performed in the bottom quartile for all diabetes measures or all cardiovascular disease measures in any given year, while 4% to 11% were in the bottom quartile in all 4 years for most measures. Meaning These results suggest that consistency in poor performance depends on the statistical properties of the measures.